He Who Protects
by i-defy-fate
Summary: A Bleach Fan-made story about the life of one Ichigo Kurosaki as he discovers his shinigami powers early in life and uses his new relationship with his Zanpakuto, Zangetsu, to become strong enough to protect everyone he cares for.


**He Who Protects**

**By: i-defy-fate**

A Bleach Fan-made story about the life of one Ichigo Kurosaki as he discovers his shinigami powers early in life and uses his new relationship with his Zanpakuto, Zangetsu, to become strong enough to protect everyone he cares for.

Talking "!"

Thinking _'!'_

**Hollow or Zanpakuto speaking from the inner world**

**Pairing:** Ichigo/Soi-fon/Harribel or just Ichigo/Harem

Chapter 1 – Receiving That Which He Always Had

It had been three days since his mother was killed. Three days since the center of his universe was torn away from him. Those three days were the worst of his young childhood. The boy looked up at the sky that rained down on him…as if the heavens themselves wept for him.

His tears had been flowing forth from his eyes like rivers that never stop, running down his face to mingle and merge with the droplets that fell from the heavens.

The boy, who was six years old, drew his knees to his chest and laid his head against them, weeping silently. _'Why did momma have to go? Momma protects me. Momma is supposed to smile and say "everything will be okay."…'_ The boy continued to ask questions and in overwhelming guilt, he began to blame himself. Berating himself for running from his mother.

'_I just wanted to help the girl. I wanted to protect momma…but now…I can't help momma. I can't protect anyone…'_ He stopped this train of thought as a warm feeling came over him, as if blanketing him in safety and comfort. He heard a deep base voice sound through his head as he looked around. **"To protect is the only reason we exist, Ichigo. We cannot change this fact and we most certainly cannot waver from that path, for if we hesitate…we will die."**

"W-who are you? Where are you?" Ichigo looked around frantically before giving a sigh of contentment as the blanket of comfort became heavier. **"I have always been with you Ichigo. Ever since your birth I have been a part of your soul. I…am a friend."** The boy nodded as he took in a deep breath and the tears came to a slow drip. "B-but…w-where are you?" The voice gave a soft chuckle as he spoke. **"I am in your soul Ichigo. In your inner world, where every emotion that you feel makes the weather change."**

"Can I see you?"

"…**First go inside, wash up, and take care of your sisters before you see me."**

He nodded and went inside and went straight to his room to gather clothes before going to take a shower. Setting down his clothes, he got undressed as the room filled with a light fog of steam. He stepped in and gave out a sigh as he felt the chill on his body being swept away by the warm water. Ichigo stood there before beginning to wash himself.

OoO

He stepped out of the glass door as the water cut off and began to dry himself off so he could pull his black boxers and gray sweat pants up, before pulling on his black shirt. Ichigo pulled open the door to find his father about to knock. Ichigo lowered his head as his gaze fell to the floor. "Hey dad…"

Isshin looked at his son in sympathy before ruffling his hair as he spoke. "Go on. Your sisters need you…"

The older man watched his son nod before going to his twin daughters shared room. He sighed in sadness. "If only you could have lived…Masaki."

OoO

Ichigo arrived at the door to his sisters' room and heard them crying. He opened the door to see his baby sisters, barely two years old, sobbing in each other's arms. He quietly closed the door and made his way to the bed before getting in and pulling them into a hug. "Shh, Yuzu, Karin…I got you. Everything's going to be okay. Your big brother is going to take care of you from now on and protect you. I'm never going to leave you alone." The twins looked at him before hugging him tighter.

"Thank you, Ichigo." They said in unison. Their big brother was always there when they needed him.

The young orange haired boy gave a soft sigh and gave them a small kiss to the top of their heads while squeezing them in a slightly tighter hug. "I promise…I will do my best to make sure you never have to cry again." His answer was silence other than the soft breathing coming from the twins indicating they were asleep. He gave another soft sigh as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

**Inner world**

Opening his eyes Ichigo saw a dark cloudy sky that was drizzling.

Looking around he saw dozens of skyscrapers and towers in disrepair as well as a few trees that looked to be dying. "Why is…everything so dark here…?" A deep sigh came from behind him. Ichigo turned to find a man that slightly scared him. The man's appearance was completely dark with black dress pants and a dark trench coat that looked as if an animal had gotten ahold of the back of it.

The man's scruffy looking hair was a deep brown and long enough to reach his shoulder blades. His facial features were sharp. His angular face and tough jaw line as well as the small scars that litter it. It was topped off with the retro looking sunglasses and if Ichigo was older and knew the words he would say the man looked 'badass' so he settled for intimidating. The man's voice brought him out of his observations.

"**It is dark here because you are depressed, Ichigo. The better your mood and the more you are relaxed, the better your inner world looks."** The man said in a deep base tone. Ichigo looked confused for a moment as he looked toward the man and before he could open his mouth the man answered his unasked question. **"Depression means a severe despondency and dejection…"** At Ichigo's further confusion the man sighed. **"It means you are really sad…"** The man chuckled as Ichigo's mouth took on an O shape.

Ichigo got over his confusion and looked a little saddened as he looked to the ground in nervousness. "Um, m-mister?"

Ichigo became increasingly nervous when the man inclined his head in acknowledgement. "W-what is your name…?" The man gave a small smile as he spoke to the child who he would call master one day. **"My name is…Zangetsu…"** As Ichigo tilted his head the man was about to explain why the boy couldn't hear his name before his thoughts were cut off from the boy's statement.

"…Zangetsu?..."

Zangetsu's mind went reeling from what he had heard. This _child _heard his _name_?!

'_**How is this possible? No child should be able to hear my name, let alone a **_**six**_** year old! How can he?...'**_ Zangetsu eyed the child intensely which caused the boy to tense up. He searched for a few more seconds before he came to a realization and smiled slightly. Well as much as the tiniest upturn of the corner of his mouth could be called a smile, it was more of a smirk. _**'I see…he is already drawing upon his spiritual power, how…interesting…'**_

It was only now that he realized that he was making his master uncomfortable and lightened his gaze on the boy and he noticed the he immediately lost tension. **"Don't think I'm angry Ichigo Kurosaki. I am, in fact, quite happy right now."**

"Huh? Why?"

Zangetsu's smirk became slightly larger as he answered. **"You heard my name, Ichigo. That means that we can begin with making you stronger so you never have to feel like this again. No pain. No sorrow. No more feeling weak and useless!"** Zangetsu exclaimed as Ichigo's mood slightly brightened at the fact he could get stronger.

"I can get stronger?! Wait…how will I get stronger? I have no one to teach me." Ichigo said as he looked to the man who claimed he was part of his soul. He listened to him explain what and how he would get stronger.

"**First, I will begin to teach you about spirit energy or, reiryoku. Reiryoku is the amount of energy you have within you and will determine how much training you will need to control it. Any questions?"** Zangetsu said as he stared at the small child who put his hand up as if in school. "Um…What do you mean by control. Don't I just use the energy?" Said child questioned only to see the man in front of him shake his head in the negative. **"No, young Ichigo, what will happen is when you use the energy with no control, then your energy is chaotic, but with control…it could be a tidal wave of energy waiting to crash into your enemy."** When Zangetsu saw Ichigo's face become confused again, he decided to dumb it down a little bit. **"I will give you an example Ichigo. If you were to use your reiryoku without control, than you would have a never ending storm within yourself. But if you were to have control, than you would be able to contain this energy as if you were a dam holding back a massive body of water…understand?" **He asked.

Ichigo's face lit up in understanding and he nodded to Zangetsu to show that he did. "So I have a lot of this re-ryu-ko?"

"**Rei-ryoku, Ichigo. And yes, you have a massive amount of energy within you, which is good as it will help you when you need to fight longer." **Zangetsu said as he crossed his arms. This would take a while.

Ichigo tilted his head to the side slightly. "Then how do I control it?"

"**For now I will teach you everything you need to know in order to start your training and then afterwards we will go further into the theory of reiryoku. Now, the next thing you need to know about is reiatsu, or spiritual pressure. This allows everyone around you to know just how strong you are and will also let you amplify the damage to your attacks."** Ichigo's hand flew up. **"Amplify means to strengthen, or to make stronger."** The boy's hand fell.

"**Now the difference in battle is that someone with a greater reiryoku will generally have the largest reiatsu. However, someone who has better control over their reiatsu will generally beat the one who has greater reiryoku. Which means that power is nothing without control, just as control is nothing without power."** Zangetsu explained.

(Perfect examples? Naruto and Sakura. Naruto has all power, but no control. Whereas, Sakura has all control, but no power.)

Ichigo nodded his understanding before he asked another question. "So I need to have a lot of reiryoku and reiatsu to beat everyone?"

Zangetsu chuckled as he heard that. **"You already have reiryoku in spades. What you NEED is control. And like I told you before, we will begin your training soon. Now in order for you to begin gaining control I will show you how to bottle your reiryoku into a seal."**

Ichigo once again nodded as he spoke. "So I'm going to be damming up my energy?" Zangetsu raised an eyebrow at the intelligent question before he nodded in confirmation. **"That…is exactly what you're going to do…"**

Ichigo sat on the ground inside his mind and looked to Zangetsu expectantly. "Well let's get started then." Zangetsu shook his head. **"Not just yet, young Ichigo. You still have much to learn about the world around you and yourself for that matter. You need to learn about your body and what it can do. It's limitations and its strengths and weaknesses need to be known before we begin." **He got comfortable as Ichigo did before continuing. **"Now for your body's limitations. Your human body has little limits on it to keep you from doing anything, but it does keep you from you full strength that you will have with your soul. Your body has already gained many strengths from simply unlocking your reiryoku. Do you feel it? The power surging through your veins. Like you can almost physically take that power and bring it out. That is what we will be learning to control. Do you understand now? Do you understand what it is that you have to control?"** Zangetsu asked. He watched as his young master's face scrunched up in concentration before his eyes lit up. "You?!" Zangetsu smirked as he nodded once again.

"**Indeed, Ichigo. You will essentially be learning how to control me. To control my power. Understand that I have immense power to share with you, but you must learn that power is not easy to obtain. I can show you how to gain all the power that you could ever wish for, but I will not hand it to you. You will earn every shred of power I share with you, understood?" **At Ichigo's adamant nodding gave him the only answer he needed.** "Good. Now we will go over your weaknesses…right now there are too many to list." **At Ichigo's glare he chuckled. **"I will list some for you to correct. You need to get taller. Eat vegetables and meats. You also need to get stronger physically. So you need to ask your father to buy you a weight bench and what is it you humans call it…dumbbells? Yes, that."**

Ichigo nodded as Zangetsu continued. **"And lastly you will need to get faster so from now on you will run early in the morning and then again at night, understood?"**

"Ok!"

The both of them felt Ichigo's fatigue begin to catch up with him so Zangetsu decided to end the discussion with one last note. **"One more thing, Ichigo. Your training to control your energy begins tomorrow night. Now get some rest. I will still be here and will wake you up when it is time to begin running."**

At Ichigo's nod he gave a small smile and Ichigo faded from his inner world to rest.

Zangetsu sat, thinking on what he had come across with his newest master, Ichigo Kurosaki. _**'The boy is…interesting to say the least. While he understood most of it I still needed to dumb some parts down for him. But that is to be expected of a six year old. Give him a few months and he will understand everything I tell him.'**_

OoO

TIMESKIP- 6 hours later

OoO

Ichigo awoke from a pinching sensation in his mind. While it didn't hurt. He wasn't exactly comfortable with it either.

He looked down to see his two younger sisters still cuddled up to him, but he noticed small smiles on their faces and it brought one to his face as well. '_I will protect you two…even if it means my life is taken. As long as you live and are happy, then I'm happy.'_ He climbed out of the bed, careful not to wake his sisters and pulled the covers back over them. Giving them a small kiss to the temple he smiled once more before leaving his room to go to his fathers.

Walking down the dark hallway was not as scary as he remembered it to be. He chalked it out to be his resolve to be stronger as he made the last few steps to his father's door. Ichigo knocked twice and stood still as he heard the tell-tale signs of his father getting out of bed and walking to the door. He was correct as the door opened to Ichigo seeing a wide awake Isshin Kurosaki.

Said man looked at his son in what appeared to be curiosity before settling into a understanding one. "What do you need from me son? Whatever you need…just ask." Ichigo nodded and asked his dad for the things Zangetsu mentioned before he spoke to his father about what he was going to do. "Dad…I'm going to go running for a while. Is that ok?" He watched again as his father's face turned to one of anxiousness to one of acceptance. "That's fine son. Be back within an hour ok?"

"I'll be back before Yuzu and Karin wake up. I will also make breakfast this morning so don't eat anything." Ichigo responded as he made his way to the stairs and down them.

Isshin watched him leave before he sighed. _'So it has begun…'_ With that thought he went to his daughters room and put a small kido on them to make them sleep longer before leaving to get coffee. _'Now it's only a matter of time…'_


End file.
